A little intimidated by Minor Leagues - A few questions

[Fronzizzle]

Hello all,

I just purchased OOTP '16 (had '14 and '15 before), and I'm running into the same problem - I'm not sure how to best handle the minor leagues in terms of promotions, etc. I'm hoping to get some advice.

First of all, I play as the Manager of the Detroit Tigers. I let the minor league managers make the lineups and all of that, but I usually become overwhelmed by the number of players and how to best utilize them.

Typically, I keep around 30 players at each minor league level, maybe a few more. This seems pretty reasonable as a quick look at the real Tigers affiliates (including teams in the VCL, GCL and DCL) are all around 35.

My two problem times are (1) after the draft, when my lowest team (in the GCL) has 60 players, and (2) in the off-season when I need to figure out where each player should go. So, my questions:

1) How do you "thin the herd", so to speak? After the draft, do you just keep everyone or do you release a bunch of players that maybe are too old for their level or are not performing? How many players are typically on each of your minor league teams, and does it affect development if there are too many? Or not enough?

2) When it comes to the lower minor leagues, does the game treat any of them as "higher" or "lower"? For the Tigers, Lakeland is considered High A and West Michigan Low A, but between Connecticut (short season), the GCL, VCL and DCL I have no idea. And at the end of the day, does it matter? If I have a player dominating the VCL, will it better to move him to the DCL or short season?

3) How often do you guys promote/demote players? Do you do it just in the off-season, or during the regular season, too? When I go to my roster and look at the red down arrows or the green up arrows, the red usually far outnumber the green so if I went by that then I'd have way too many players to demote and not enough players to promote in their place.

4) Do any of you just let the computer handle demotions and promotions? I've thought about that, but it takes away a big part of what I like about the game. I'm not really looking to make it easier, just more manageable.

Thanks in advance for any replies/advice.

[battists]

Originally Posted by Fronzizzle

1) How do you "thin the herd", so to speak? After the draft, do you just keep everyone or do you release a bunch of players that maybe are too old for their level or are not performing? How many players are typically on each of your minor league teams, and does it affect development if there are too many? Or not enough?

I play a fictional league, but I keep all of my minors at 25 except for rookie ball, which is 35. (It is recommended to always have at least 35 in your lowest level. Otherwise the AI goes nuts signing and releasing players to try to keep your rosters full when injuries occur.)

By and large I keep everyone through the season, and then after the amateur draft I thin the herd. Essentially, I reorganize my whole organization from the top down until the top levels are all "full". In doing so I rarely keep players older than 25 or 26 unless it's in AAA and I want some "AAAA" players that could come up to the bigs in a pinch.

That process usually leaves me at the end with way too many players in rookie ball, because it will have every player who didn't qualify to move up a level, plus every player who was overmatched at higher levels, plus all of the new rookies (I usually put all of my rookies in rookie ball to start no matter what the coaches think). So that's where the real herd-thinning comes in.

At that level if you're 23 or older and have already played one or more seasons in my system, you're at risk. The more seasons you have played, the more likely you are to be first to go. (If a guy is 24, has played three seasons in my system, and still doesn't qualify to go above rookie ball, he's probably a good target to cut.) I basically proceed like that until I get down to 35.

There are other factors, of course. Any of the following score points towards getting another chance:

• They play C, SS, or CF.
• They are superior defensively and/or have good position flexibility.
• They have an interesting "story" for some reason, e.g. I love their name, they are from my hometown, they were involved in some crazy play, etc.
• There was some indicator that they have the potential to improve, like they had one season where they looked great, but they just haven't been able to be consistent.

Bear in mind, I don't use ratings in my game, so it's all about performance on the field. I don't have any way of saying "Keep anyone with more than 2 stars."

Originally Posted by Fronzizzle

2) When it comes to the lower minor leagues, does the game treat any of them as "higher" or "lower"? For the Tigers, Lakeland is considered High A and West Michigan Low A, but between Connecticut (short season), the GCL, VCL and DCL I have no idea. And at the end of the day, does it matter? If I have a player dominating the VCL, will it better to move him to the DCL or short season?

Yes, some levels are higher than others. Look in Game | Game Settings | League Settings | your minor league | Players and look at the Sabremetric Player Creation Modifiers. The higher these are, the better players usually are at that level. If you compare short season A to regular A ball, you will see that A ball is generally a little better. Although, at the end of the day it doesn't matter.

Generally, my rule of thumb is it's fine to leave a player where they are dominating if I don't have a good place to move him, but I try not to leave players where they are struggling.

Originally Posted by Fronzizzle

3) How often do you guys promote/demote players? Do you do it just in the off-season, or during the regular season, too? When I go to my roster and look at the red down arrows or the green up arrows, the red usually far outnumber the green so if I went by that then I'd have way too many players to demote and not enough players to promote in their place.

I usually look at it monthly. However, in my fictional league I only have 5 levels of minors, whereas the MLB has something like 13. I would definitely do it at least a couple of times a season.

Originally Posted by Fronzizzle

4) Do any of you just let the computer handle demotions and promotions? I've thought about that, but it takes away a big part of what I like about the game. I'm not really looking to make it easier, just more manageable.

While some people do, I would guess that the vast majority of OOTP players here handle demotions and promotions themselves. Because most of us are baseball GM-ey types, many of us are obsessive about our teams/leagues, it's fun, and because the AI sometimes (often?) makes decisions that irritate us.

That said, sometimes, like right now, I like to play as just a manager. So I am managing the rookie level Titusville Barracudas in my current league, and I just have to put up with it when the GM moves my star pitcher up to A-ball.

Good luck man!

[NoOne]

i use 1 of 2 strategies for minors. for simplicity i'll use overall/potential, but you need to be more sophisticated than that. i'd suggest the second method.

i will make a shortlist of say 61+ batters and rp / 51+ starters (players you expect to play for you or be value in a trade). i will control their promotions and demotions through their player strategies, and i will let the AI handle all other players. i'll reassess them every couple months. also, i make sure they are getting lots of playing time.

-or-

i will make use of shortlists in a similar fashion. i will promote or demote those shortlisted players as i normally do. however, i only promote or demote other minor leaguers once a year. the first year it's a pain. after that, i merely promote and demote in order to fill out the teams around my real prospects.

i keep an eye out for late developers. i do not ignore all the other players, i just don't worry about managing them in the most efficient way for development. i'd rather my prospects be sorrounded by good performing players at each minor league level. so, i don't mind if a 25potential player is 'too good' for their current level for half a year.

also, since the teams don't change much during the year, i can maintain total control with little maintenance throughout the year.

if they won't play in the mlb, i want them to maximize my real prospects development. better opportunities for them statistically and better morale from being on winning teams.

[kingtut313]

I am using the Tigers this year as well. These are what I do.

At the end of Spring Training, I assign/promote/demote players to whatever team I want them to start the season on. For instance, a relief pitcher who has been progressing well and put up solid numbers at A-ball would probably get promoted to AA.

Rookie league players I will promote to SSA at 19-20 if they perform well in the league but by 21 they are either promoted to SSA or I cut them. Every year at draft time, I will go player by player through the rookie squads and cut anybody who has no shot at playing time.

SSA is higher competition than GCL, VSL, DSL. For rookie leagues, I assign DR guys to DSL, Venezuelan guys to VSL, and then assign players to teams if they lack depth. However if I have say two stud SS on one team, I will assign him to a different rookie team to get his playing time. Although, I typically put my top prospects in the GCL.

I will promote guys if I feel they are ready to play at a higher level. A 23 year old SP who is dominating at class-A half way through the year will get promoted but if it's only an 18 year old, I might wait a little bit longer. I tend to promote guys slowly and only after they have proven they can play.

I never let the computer handle promotions. I set up the pitching rotations and set pitch counts for the younger guys. Lineups I will just select 'ask manager to set up lineups and depth charts' while checking back every few days for injuries.

It seems overwhelming at first but handling guys in the minor leagues is one of my favorite things to do. After a couple seasons, I can tell you every player in my system and how I value them.

[jpeters1734]

I actually do most of what battists does, except that I go bottom up. at the end of spring training, I go to my rookie league and decide who gets promoted or cut. i will widdle my rookie team down to just a few players since it will be filled after the draft. Then I work my way up. I will decide again who gets promoted. if I have too many players, I will cut down. I do this all the way up.

I would suggest combining your different levels if youre getting overwhelmed. It's much easier to manage 1 rookie team and 1 single A team for example

[Fronzizzle]

Thanks for the advice!

I've debated playing without the ratings, but I feel...scared, I guess - like my training wheels would be taken off. Maybe I'll start up a second league and play that way, just to see how it goes.

Anyway, thanks again for the replies.